Monsoon rains kill 12 in KP in past 3 days; nationwide flood warning issued

Heavy monsoon rains in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have killed 12 people and injured 18 others over the past three days, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), while the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued a nationwide alert for possible flooding and landslides later this week.

The PDMA said the deaths were recorded between Sunday and Tuesday and included five men, two women and five children. Half of the fatalities were reported from Khyber district, where a vehicle carrying Afghan families was swept away in a flash flood on Monday. Two children died in Mardan, while a man was killed in Peshawar during the same period.

The injured included 10 men, four women and four children. Khyber accounted for half of the injuries, while five people were hurt in Mardan and four in Torghar, the authority said. The rains also killed four animals in Upper Dir, Abbottabad and Buner, and left three houses fully destroyed and 15 others partially damaged.

The weather has also disrupted electricity supply across several districts of KP. Peshawar Electric Supply Company said power to 148 feeders had been affected after rain continued for about 12 hours in areas including Peshawar, Khyber, Mardan, Swabi and Swat. The affected feeders were spread across Peshawar Circle, Mardan, Khyber, Swabi and Swat. Power was also disrupted in parts of Peshawar including Gulberg, University Town, Cantt, Warsak and Shabqadar.

Pesco said its staff worked through the night and had restored supply to 42 feeders. Chief Executive Officer Akhtar Hamid Khan has asked operational teams to stay on high alert, and the company said additional equipment had been deployed to speed up restoration efforts.

Separately, the NDMA warned of flash floods, urban flooding, rising river levels and landslides from July 21 to 24. It asked provincial and district administrations to keep emergency teams ready and take preventive measures in vulnerable areas amid the forecast of heavy monsoon rains.

The alert covers several parts of the country, including KP, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and northeastern Balochistan. The authority said flash flooding could affect rivers, streams and mountain waterways in KP, including the Chitral, Kabul, Swat and Panjkora rivers, as well as local streams in a number of districts. It also flagged the risk of flooding in river systems and seasonal streams in other regions, along with possible urban flooding in low-lying areas of cities including Rawalpindi, Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat and others.

The NDMA also issued a landslide alert for Chitral and mountainous parts of Gilgit-Baltistan from July 21 to 23. It said road links in vulnerable areas could be affected by landslides, falling rocks and debris flows, and advised people to avoid unnecessary travel to exposed locations.

This report is based on a monitored public feed. Source attribution: Dawn Home. Source: Dawn Home - https://www.dawn.com/news/2017248/monsoon-rains-kill-12-in-kp-in-past-3-days-nationwide-flood-warning-issued